Which to use
“maestre” and “maestro” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,177
- “maestre” frequency rank
- #1,296
- “maestro” frequency rank
- 15473
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maestre | maestro |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Militar de rango superior. | Persona que enseña en una institución educacional. |
Where the eye mixes maestre and maestro
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. maestre and maestro follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses maestre with maestro
A purely visual mix-up. maestre ([maˈest̪ɾe]) and maestro ([maˈest̪ɾo]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - e in “maestre” becomes o in “maestro”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15473, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maestre is recorded at frequency rank #14,177, classified as anoun, pronounced [maˈest̪ɾe]. maestro is at rank #1,296, tagged as anoun, pronounced [maˈest̪ɾo].
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 15473, this pair ranks #280,004 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of maestre vs maestro
Shared letters: aemrst. Private to "maestre": -. Private to "maestro": o.
"maestre" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCCV · "maestro" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "maestre" for "maestro" ever safe?
Frequency check: "maestre" vs "maestro" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "maestre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "maestro" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #280,004 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maestre" and "maestro" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maestre vs muestres". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #280,004 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.